Book Review: Terror in the Shadows

About the Book

Prepare to be captivated by “Terror in the Shadows,” a gripping paranormal, mystery, suspense novel that plunges into a world of hidden secrets and uncertain destinies. Kelsey, a tenacious young reporter known for chasing stories, suddenly vanishes, paralleling the puzzling disappearance of her mother three months ago. As time ticks away, the race to find Kelsey becomes a desperate pursuit for Detective Silverton.

Haunted by the mysterious photo of Kelsey, Lucy, a mysterious man with an intriguing connection to the supernatural, feels an unwavering urge to aid in the search. With his enigmatic powers, he reveals the missing pieces as they rush into the shadows to unearth long-hidden truths.

In a realm where secrets and lies intertwine, ancient powers stir from their slumber, ready to shape the fate of all involved. Within this realm, where the boundaries between light and dark blur, Kelsey’s fate hangs in the balance.

As Detective Silverton uncovers the truth behind Kelsey and her mother’s disappearance, he walks a treacherous tightrope between saving the young woman and losing everyone he loves. The stakes have never been higher as the clock relentlessly counts down.

With each page turned, “Terror in the Shadows” will immerse you in a world where gripping suspense and unexpected twists reign supreme. As the story unfolds, you’ll be held enthralled from the very first page to the heart-stopping climax. Will the truth set Kelsey free, or will she become another headline shadowed by darkness?

Prepare yourself for an exhilarating journey that will keep you on the edge of your seat, yearning for answers until the last word. “Terror in the Shadows” will leave you craving more, long after you’ve turned the last page.”

My Review

I requested a copy of this book from the author, Jupiter Rose, in exchange for an honest review, because the cover caught my eye. (Yes, I often consciously choose books by their covers.) The flaming pentagram with the figure of a man in it intrigued me and the title, Terror in the Shadows, promised a tale of dark fiction or horror to keep one awake at night. While this story has a lot of potential to be an excellent dark fantasy thriller, it failed to deliver on its promise.

It has an excellent premise, with witches and witch hunters, and even an appearance from the Dark Lord, himself, going by the name of Lucy. The mysterious disappearance of Kelsey’s mother starts things off, but we only get to learn about it through Kelsey’s thoughts before Kelsey herself disappears and it’s up to her two best friends Frank and Jennifer to find her before it’s too late. There are mysterious men stalking her, and a mysterious man who appears out of nowhere to help find her who has more information than he should, all building up to a climatic confrontation between the hunters and the hunted. I loved the tale enough to finish the book despite the problems that I found with it which included:

• Massive head hopping. This story changes P.O.V. so often it’s difficult to know whose head your in – sometimes as often as every other paragraph.
• Numerous typos, sometimes changing gender identifiers within a single sentence.
• The characters were likeable enough, but they lacked depth, which could have easily been remedied by staying in P.O.V. so we could get more of their inner feelings and resonate with the reasons for their actions. There are too many extraordinary events that are reacted to by the characters as if they were every day occurrences, and no understanding as to why that would be.
• Needed to be more realistic, and plot holes that need patched. The character of Frank, in particular, was hard to figure out. He is portrayed as a policeman, but his behavior is very un-cop-like. They all have massive time off of work to delve into mysteries, and after her abduction, they bring Kelsey home and report nothing to the police or the media, after her photo has been plastered all over to the public. Then her boss calls to demand her to come back to work before he has any way to know she’s no longer missing. These moments make the reader pause from the story to say, “What? When did that happen?” And there a many of them.
• Too much telling and not enough showing. Told in past tense, it was too easy to fill us in later and just tell us something happened while we were out.

I never like to give less than positive reviews, but since I requested the book, I felt obligated to give an honest review as promised. The storyline was good enough to keep me reading despite the problems with craft and grammar. What makes it sad is that all of them could have been corrected by running it by a decent editor and giving it a good proofread. While I am a D.I.Y. author and publisher, I believe in putting out the best book possible, and I know how important it is to have a second, or even a third set of eyes go over the books that I publish. A book like this one just drives that message home.

A good storyline and characters, but hard to get through due to typos and problems with craft. I give Terror in the Shadows three quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.